Eastman Johnson Catalogue Raisonné
enlarge
Photo: Lincoln Glenn Gallery
Photo: Abigael MacGibeny
Detail
Photo: Abigael MacGibeny
Inscription
Photo: Abigael MacGibeny
Verso
Photo: Abigael MacGibeny
Photo: Abigael MacGibeny
⊠
24.0 Adolescent Girls
As Johnson got to know his nieces and also his daughter Ethel during their teen-aged years, he realized that they were not just genteel creatures who read books, but also smart young adults who read newspapers. Of all American artists, Johnson is perhaps the only artist (besides women artists such as Lily Martin Spencer and Mary Cassatt) who shows women reading newspapers. —PH
Hills no. 24.0.3
1907 Sale no. 42
Adelaide
c.1870–79
Oil
19 x 15 in. (48.3 x 38.1 cm)
Initialed lower right: E. J.
loading
Description/Remarks
Hills, 2021: Although the 1907 Estate Sale catalogue calls the figure a “young girl,” the narrative describes an adolescent.
Although John I. H. Baur owned and annotated a copy of the catalogue of Johnson's 1907 Estate Sale, he did not include this work in his own 1940 catalogue listing; he must have obtained it after publication.
1907 Estate Sale 
No. 42: "This is the half-length figure of a young girl, seated in an ordinary wooden chair, slightly resting her head upon her left hand. Her face is in three-quarters view to the right in a strong effect of light and shade, and her large dark eyes are turned slightly away from the spectator. Her dark hair is brushed back from her forehead, and she wears a loose gray blouse with variegated ribbon at the neck, and a gray skirt with a black patent leather belt. The background is a graded tone of warm gray.
Signed at the lower right, E. J.
Height, 19 inches; width, 15 inches."
[Annotation: “27.50”]
Signed at the lower right, E. J.
Height, 19 inches; width, 15 inches."
[Annotation: “27.50”]
Exhibitions
Century Association, New York, Memorial Exhibition of Eastman Johnson, February 9–13, 1907, as Adelaide [and/or possibly as Rosalinde].
References
Catalogue of Finished Pictures, Studies, and Drawings by the Late Eastman Johnson, N.A. New York: American Art Association, February 1907. Sale catalogue, n.p., no. 42, as Adelaide.
Hills Examination/Opinion
Record last updated August 8, 2025. Please note that the information on this and all pages is periodically reviewed and subject to change.
Citation: Hills, Patricia, and Abigael MacGibeny. "Adelaide, c.1870–79 (Hills no. 24.0.3)." In Eastman Johnson Catalogue Raisonné. www.eastmanjohnson.org/catalogue/entry.php?id=321 (accessed on August 31, 2025).